Dumped girl child case: Singapore couple would be in trouble if autopsy result points finger at them

Singapore couple investigated for allegedly dumping their baby girl after birth in Taiwan.

The case of the girl child, allegedly dumped by Singapore couple in Taiwan is still under investigation. But, on March 5, Tuesday morning, an hour-long autopsy was conducted to determine the reason behind her death. However, officials stated that it will take time to make these results public.

A spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, Chen Jia-xiu told China Times that since the case is still at the evidence-gathering stage, the Taiwan investigators cannot reveal the results of the autopsy right now.

As reported, Chen also said that Taiwan's Institute of Forensic Medicine, based in Taipei city, is now trying to find the reason behind the death of the infant.

State-owned Central News Agency reported on March 4, Monday that if the child had died after birth, the perpetrators could be looking at homicide and causing death by negligence, in addition to the charge of abandoning a corpse.

One of the important facts of the autopsy was finding out whether the baby had taken her first breath after birth or not, reported by Hong Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily.

An unnamed examiner told the newspaper that the autopsy would also reveal if the newborn met the legal definition of being a 'person' under Taiwanese law.

As per the examiner, if the lungs of the deceased child float on water, it means the baby had taken a breath after birth. Meanwhile, as a part of this preliminary test, a section of the lungs will be examined to check if they had expanded.

The case details:

The allegedly involved Singapore couple flew to Taipei on February 19 and left Taiwan after allegedly dumping the body of the newborn baby on February 26.

While the boy said that he did not leave the hotel to throw the plastic bag away at the time on March 1, the woman denied the pregnancy and said that she would not be able to board the flight to Taiwan, if she was pregnant.

Later, the dumped plastic bag was transported by a garbage truck to a recycling plant, almost 10 kilometres away, located in Xindia, where the Taiwan authority discovered the dead body.

During the initial investigation, the police found bloodstains, hair and a small piece of placenta in the bathroom drain of Ximending hotel room, where the Singapore couple stayed during their visit to Taiwan.

However, on Monday the investigators confirmed that the blood sample, collected from the hotel room, matched with the DNA of the dead baby.